Rudolph Isley Sues Brother Ronald Isley Over Rights to ‘The Isley Brothers’ Trademark
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According to TMZ, trouble is brewing within The Isley Brothers after Rudolph Isley accused his brother Ronald Isley of quietly obtaining the rights to The Isley Brothers’ trademark without telling him.
Rudolph filed a lawsuit stating that Ronald, without his knowledge, applied for and got approval to place The Isley Brothers trademark in his name. In doing so, Ronald became the sole owner of the trademark and is the only one profiting off the family name. In the legal paperwork filed, Rudolph stated that he and his brother, Ronald, agreed to equally split all the profits that the group made. They are supposed to each have a 50% ownership in The Isley Brothers’ name since their other brother O’Kelly passed away in 1986. According to the lawsuit, Rudolph asserted that Ronald applied for and was granted the exclusive rights to “The Isley Brothers” for use on “visual recordings and audiovisual recordings featuring music and animation.” He did so back in August and claimed that Ronald needed his approval to make a move regarding the group’s name.
The initial filing to place the trademark in Ronald’s name was started in November 2021. Before Ronald took that action, Rudolph claimed that the duo previously split all the profits between the two for some big transactions, which included a multi-million dollar publishing deal. Now, he wants an accounting to be done to see just how much money his brother has made since he applied for the trademark.
Rudolph also requested that the court step in and announce that “The Isley Brother” trademark is owned jointly by him and his brother.